Beware the Ides of March...and the ATM Machine
I've been traveling in Italy for less than a week and Capital One's highly recommended ATM card is making life a nightmare. I may be out hundreds of Euros and many hours of time trying to recover them.
Capital One offers a highly recommended US debit card that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees and is considered the "cheapest" card to use in foreign countries. To check it out I opened a direct banking account and requested an ATM card to use on my travels.
The first time I tried to use my ATM card in Italy I got the message, "Transaction unable to be completed due to broken link" and my card was ejected. No problem, I thought, I'll just go to another bank for money. But, when I checked my account online, it showed a debit even though I had gotten no money.
I went to my bank in Italy and talked to one of the managers about what I should do. She asked me to try the card again. I got the same message, no money, and yet another debit to my account.
I sent emails but after getting no answer for two days, I called Capital One on my cell phone. I was told that the only way to dispute the debits is to fill out a form that must be mailed to my US address and received back by them within 60 days of the date of the disputed transaction. I won't be home in 60 days, so I requested to have the forms sent as an email attachment but was told that Capital One cannot do that, nor can they send them by fax or mail them to me in Italy. So much for the joys of online banking.
So now I'm left without the use of this card, a big, time-consuming problem to try to get straightened out, and the possible loss of over seven hundred dollars.
During this same time period I was able to use my Wachovia ATM card. Even though got the exact same message the first time I tried it, they properly did not debit my account for money I didn't get. I then used the card successfully at another bank to get money. Wachovia charged a 2% foreign transaction fee, about average these days.
Here are some tips I've about using ATMs when you travel in Italy based on my experince:
- Always travel with at least two (or better yet, three) different ATM cards in case of problems.
- Call the bank before you leave to tell them your travel plans and ask for their international calling number.
- Write down your bank account numbers and bring them with you.
- If you're traveling for a few weeks or longer, check your bank account online during your travels, especially if you get error messages at the ATM.
- If you get an error message when trying to get money, copy it down or take a digital photo along with the date, time and name of the bank.
More Tips for Using the ATM in Italy
Italy Travel Tip - How to Safeguard your money
Using Credit Cards in Europe from Europe Travel
Credit Card Problems while Traveling from Family Vacations
Comments
We were in Italy for the first two weeks in March and had the same experience, but with our regular ATM card. We received messages from Bancomat machines telling us that the “link” to our bank account “could not be made” or that our card was “not authorized for foreign transactions.” No money. No receipt.
We have used this card many times before in Italy and elsewhere and this was the first time we had encountered this problem. We called our our home bank the first two times this happened– they could see that we had tried to use the card and that the transactions had not gone through. They did not understand why this was happening, but told us to keep trying- using smaller amounts. The card continued to return the “no link” message. When we returned home, however, we learned that, a day or two after we had tried to use each ATM, our account HAD been debited. We are, of course, disputing these charges. We had a second ATM card with us, on a different, bank. That card produced the same error messages, but the bank tells me that the account was not debited. I must wait until Monday (my credit card issuer does not have online access) to find out it my similarly unsuccessful efforts to receive a cash advance from my Visa card resulted in charges to our account. All of these cards are on the Plus, not the Cirrus system. This does not appear to be fraud– bancomats from many banks in a number of cities in Sicily were involved– but rather a major ATM error.
Update – It appears that the problem has been resolved and the money redeposited to my account. I’m getting conflicting information about whether there is still paperwork I need to complete, though.
I think that everything you’ve said in this article is soooooooooooo true.
You have any more articles out there?, I would love to read some more.
Thank you and good Luck.
I got the same error message on two different ATM machines and same two cards at both machines and no money dispensed, but all taken from both accounts. One bank refunded the money and other refuses saying that both ATM banks say both transactions were successful! I can’t understand why this is happening?!
My bank said the same thing, but eventually they did refund the money. They said I would have to fill out a dispute form, but in the end I didn’t have to do that either. Tell your bank that you want to file a dispute form and you might want to consider not using that ATM card on future travels. I hope this will get resolved.
Great article, Would love to hear more